The best hot hatches offer giant-killing performance and a gripping drive, all wrapped in a user-friendly package.

Khodrocar - Over the past 40-years, manufacturers have perfected the hot hatch formula, but even still some of the forefathers from the 80s are hugely popular. Many will say that the Granddaddy of them all is the Volkswagen Golf GTI, which gave an intoxicating mix of big engine, small body. However, the original Golf GTI was an after-hours project undertaken by some of Volkswagen’s engineers and was initially only sold in Germany. But word soon spread about the brilliant little car and the likes of the Peugeot 205 GTI, Renault 5 GT Turbo and Vauxhall Astra GTE soon followed in its tread marks.

Today the hot hatch is back to full power, and it comes in a variety of guises from a number of manufacturers. While most are still front-wheel drive, 4WD is gaining traction, and BMW still goes its own way with rear-wheel drive.

Cars such as the Ford Focus RS Mk3 have four-wheel drive to boost their performance, while the latest VW Golf GTI and SEAT Leon Cupra and Skoda Octavia vRS use trick electronics and front diffs to boost front-wheel traction.

Performance levels have reached new heights as a result and so have prices, with models like the Audi RS3 Sportback and Mercedes-AMG A45 going abovetouching £40,000.